(WASHINGTON) – After suddenly realizing today that he is up for reelection in just over five weeks, Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) began scrambling to put together his reelection campaign.

The news came from a staffer in a 2:30 p.m. phone call that startled Casey awake from his daily afternoon nap, according to a source in the senator’s office.

“I think I knew [President] Obama was up for another term and all that,” Casey said in a slightly more frantic version of his laid-back voice when the Gazelle reached him by phone today. But he added he had never heard of Republican challenger Tom Smith. “Is he a lawyer or something?” Casey asked.

The senator’s staffers were quick to employ damage control while his campaign played catch-up. “I think the senator’s mistake is easy to make, especially given that U.S. Senate seats only open up every six years,” one staffer said on condition of anonymity, citing plans to pursue another job.

“We plan to continue working hard in Washington on behalf of all Pennsylvanians on the issues that matter most to them, or something along those lines,” Casey said in a statement released late today. “Give me a couple weeks and I’ll be able to tell you more about what the most important issues are, though at this point it’s simply too early in the race for me to speculate about that sort of thing.”